Fortitude in this Liminal Space Between Me and You
by aki.ari
Summary: Yullentide Entry #1/2: Trust/Liberate. AU - It's unfathomably ridiculous really, having to place your trust in someone to ever find out if they are worth trusting. Even so Allen held those words close, wrapping himself in the promise of someday, for surely Kanda wouldn't let him down. Yullen
1. Chapter 1: Trust

**Fortitude in this Liminal Space Between Me and You**

 **Chapter 1: Trust**

Silence. The early hours – dark like night and yet already the beginnings of a new day. The deep verdant leaves on the trees lining the walk lay still, no breeze nor animals to stir them. The crickets and night birds, usually so active in their song, tonight had no serenade to offer. Yet while all was still the silence was not complete. Fine grained white pebbles covered the floor of the courtyard, crunching softly against each other under foot. Slow lingering steps.

"Kanda…"

Slate hued irises that had been fixed on some indeterminate place on the ground finally found the pair of contemplative cobalt they'd been avoiding.

"I still love you."

Kanda's jaw tightened, eyes narrowing. What should have been heartwarming, reassuring, sounded so painful in that plaintive tone. It wrought him raw on the inside looking at Allen, the steeled expression of calm he'd been nursing all night finally given way – suddenly naked in its unendurable thirst. He understood. It's not like he didn't. They both knew that these meetings were becoming more difficult to arrange and wouldn't happen again for quite some time.

"Say something won't you?"

"I've been meaning to call you," Kanda said, tone clipped. "I might, if they'd ever put my call through, which they won't."

A mirthless smile turned up Allen's lips. Soft crunching turned to hollow clacks as they transitioned from the gravel walk to the worn wooden porch the two had spent numerous clandestine meetings upon. This was their place. Their refuge. Their small corner of the world wherein there was no judgment from prying, meddlesome eyes. Under normal circumstances theirs was a relationship that ought not to have been conceived. Allen the youngest and most beloved master of the prestigious House of Noah, and Kanda, a hot tempered, blue collar guy with nothing to his name. Their stations in life were quite different, but as merely two people, they couldn't have been a more dysfunctionally perfect match.

"You could just come by," Allen said, wringing his hands nervously. "Like you used to."

"If I did that, _you'd_ be the one most inconvenienced," Kanda muttered gruffly – though the harsh delivery did little to mask his concern.

Even when fretful or impassioned Kanda always had an air of menace about him – tone rough though speaking kind words, hands hard though caressing with such care – he was a complete contradiction. Maybe that's why Allen had felt so drawn to Kanda that night two years ago – to that damaged looking man with the piercing glare of cobalt steel that flickered more with weariness than hostility. That night Allen, long lost to a despondent sort of stasis, had snuck from the Noah estate in search of solace. He didn't know what it was he was looking for, all he knew was if he didn't find it soon he wasn't going to last much longer.

"I don't mind being inconvenienced if it's you."

It wasn't that he had some sort of reckless desire for chaos or a devilish addiction to perilous excitement. Allen wasn't even remotely interested in causing trouble. What he desperately needed was life and Kanda was the very epitome of vitality. Barely illuminated by the waning moon in some dingy back alley Allen had found him in a completely disastrous state propped up against a stack of crates, two motionless bodies lying haphazardly a few feet away. Hair wild and unkempt, the long navy locks hanging about his shoulders like licks of ink, eyes as piercing as a viper, and dark smears of red across his fisted hands. When Allen's eyes returned to Kanda after taking in the whole scene, he noted the bitterly sardonic smirk twisting his beautiful features. _Left for dead or arrested for the way things looked_. Allen was sure something like that was what had been the thought running though Kanda's mind as he waited to see what Allen would do. Allen didn't know whether the two bodies were Kanda's handiwork, or what the circumstances surrounding the morbid tableau were, but of one thing he was sure, he couldn't tear his eyes away. Allen had known his fair share of dangerous people before he'd moved into the family estate. And there was always something mysteriously intriguing about the kind of people who aren't afraid to break guy's nose and smile while doing it. Something terrifyingly real.

"After all… you're the reason I'm still here."

Kanda snorted at the comment. Allen had said the same several times before, said that he was saved by Kanda. What he meant by that Kanda didn't know and the couple times he'd attempted to pursue the issue, Allen had merely donned a smile.

"Baka Moyashi, that's my line."

Clearing the distance with calm purposeful strides Allen bent with a smiling façade, startling Kanda stupid when he boldly grasped an arm, ducking underneath like a crutch to help him stand. The next time their eyes met, the hard edge to those cobalt eyes had melted away in a somewhat comical furrowed brow and wide eyed suspicion. He'd taken the disgruntled stranger home that day – to the unending dismay of his family.

xXx

"I know what you want to say, Kanda. And I- I know you don't want to, but it's hard for me just waiting to hear it. So please…"

Kanda stiffened, looking away. A mirror was lying atop the desk. A small unassuming pocket mirror, splayed open reflecting the darkened ceiling. He was never much one for sappy professions. As far as Kanda was concerned, if you _had_ to say it with words to get your feelings across, you weren't doing something right. Words. Words were flowery and lofty and were poor substitutions for expression. But how to show it? How to get Allen to understand? He picked up the mirror, twirling it in his hands a moment eyes rising from the glass to meet Allen's momentarily. With false casualness, he held the mirror for Allen to take.

"Here, I want you to have this. It belongs to you."

Allen's brows knitted slightly in confusion, for he knew that mirror did not belong to him, but he reached out anyway. Eyes widening minutely as he glanced at its reflective surface. He and Kanda were standing so close together. For all its history, the circle of old glass was clear and brilliant. Allen's hands clasped around the rustic frame, hands a hairs' breadth away from Kanda's, staring into the joined reflection on its surface – a mirage that would quickly vanish, yet a meaning that would last a lifetime. This is what _they_ couldn't understand. Allen needed Kanda just as he was.

"I'm going away for a while."

Allen's breath caught in his throat. Kanda had finally said it, and it surprised Allen just how much it pained him to hear.

"It might be too much to ask for but-"

"Anything."

"Baka Moyashi, you didn't even let me finish."

"You don't have to, I know you'll come back."

Kanda's gaze softened.

"I'll wait. I'll wait as long as it takes. As long as I live. And if a life after death exists, I'll continue to wait for you even then."

It was a wonder to Kanda that he'd ever hear such words directed at him. Even more so that such words could come from someone like Allen. There were still many things about his snowy haired lover that he didn't know, but of what he did know, Allen had been spurned more than once by people he'd placed his trust in. To say he'd wait forever- They were either pretty words from the world's best actor, or profoundly courageous words from the biggest idiot beansprout he'd ever met.

"I'll come for you," Kanda said a frown furrowing his brows and turning down his lips. "And it'll be in _this_ life," he added in a whisper against Allen's lips a he leaned in to capture them in a feverish wanton kiss.

"I'll come for you," Kanda repeated, jaw tight with yearning and regret as Allen's eyes welled up with tears, hands locking around the back of his neck to keep him from pulling away. Again and again Kanda mumbled those four words like a mantra. Words giving way to grunts and groans against Allen's mewls and gasps as they were swept up in each other's arms. A heavy lovemaking. One through which the tears wouldn't stop.

Lying beside each other on the rumpled sheets, Allen's breath warmed against Kanda's neck as he nuzzled closer, and the silence that followed truly felt like goodbye.

xXx

Morning came with silent shuffles, Kanda's breathing husky with memories from their time together. Hands against the bed frame, he pushed himself to his feet, and then he turned to Allen, bending down, his face emerging from its own shadow into the day's light, pressing a reverent kiss on Allen's forehead. His lips were dry, and his warm breath smelled faintly of sake.

"Wait for me."

On that final word his voice died, the tension in his jaw written taught on his skin as he stepped away from the bed. A breath – even but sharp – before Kanda turned from the view of milky skin and snowy locks splayed on the warm amber sheets and strode quickly to the door. He lingered a moment longer than he intended in the doorframe as if fighting some barrier that prevented his advance. A moment and a moment longer than that as Kanda steeled himself and continued out without looking back.

Allen's eyes had remained firmly shut while Kanda was still in the room. His whole body had tensed when he'd felt Kanda's breath over his face, acutely aware of Kanda's presence, the form he could imagine leaning over him. Then he was gone. Out of the room, footsteps fading down the hallway, and the clack of the bathroom door shutting. Allen listened and listened, but for his own tears, which he could not stop, there was a terrible silence in the house that had once been a sanctuary for them both.

Leaning his head against the cool tile, Kanda closed his eyes and listened. Listened to Allen's muffled sobbing, and the creak of the floorboards as he had collected and pulled on his clothing. Listened to the bedroom door moan as it opened, and the slow footsteps that trudged down the hall and stalled somewhere not too far from the back door. He heard and he knew that those silver eyes he was so enamored with would have been looking towards the bathroom door – towards him. Then the bending of the porch wood and the faint thud of the door as it closed. Only then in the complete silence, did he emerge from the bathroom to gather his things.

Standing outside the empty home, he swore to return. He looked down the road to the polished estate that had taken his love from him, and promised once more, "I'll come for you."

xXx

"Aren't you lonely sometimes, Shounen?" Tyki asked as he lit up his cigarette.

Allen looked up. It was the end of winter, early dusk in the withered garden behind the Noah's main estate. The few solitary pines more brown than green in the failing light, the birds long since gone – not seeming to ever return to this place – only old feathers in their small wooden box-shaped houses. They had a dinner to go to soon, or perhaps it was just tea, he wasn't sure. Those things were trivial at best and he often found it difficult to remember despite the order becoming routine, and the routine becoming habit – he thought nothing of it as he passed his days as if sleepwalking – just waiting for someone to usher him along. Allen could see them now, hovering at the edge of the garden, but not daring to interrupt when a member of the house was present.

"Lonely?" Allen hummed thoughtfully musing on the word as they strolled the length of the garden in silence, the soft decaying ground yielding beneath their feet.

It had been quite some time since Allen had seen Tyki, the man's business keeping him away for the most part, it had only been by chance that he happened to run into him between having just come home and getting ready to run off again.

"You know," Allen said quietly picking up a small pinecone, studying it with detached interest. "I used to imagine returning home. But with Kanda gone I can't bring myself to go back. I don't think I could stand it if I had to be in that place without him."

Tyki nodded but did not reply, their idle stroll coming to a stop as though by mutual consent when they reached the far wall.

"He would never abandon me though," Allen said voice coming out more hopeful than sure, his eyes betraying his uncertainty. "He's not dead, he's not gone forever… I just have to wait patiently and one day I'll be able to say this ache in my heart no longer festers there. Just until he comes back and I can satiate the throbbing in my blood with more than just wrinkled pictures at the bottom of my drawer."

Tyki's lips drew into a tight line, he'd been among those in the family who hadn't been thrilled with Allen's relationship – not because the man was a working class fellow, Tyki wasn't so concerned with those things and even had his own group of friends the Earl had never approved off. No, thinking about it he could safely say that it probably didn't matter what person Allen had decided to devote himself to, no one was a good enough partner to Tyki. Even so, he'd searched for Kanda, wanting if only to be able to mention to Allen that his wayward love was indeed alright, but he'd been able to find neither hide nor hair of him anywhere in his travels. He truly could not surmise what had become of him, and he severely doubted that he would ever come back.

"You shouldn't have to be alone. You shouldn't have to suffer by yourself until he returns."

"I will not share myself with anyone."

Allen dropped the pinecone then, hands moving to the silver cord strung about his neck in place of the ribbon he used to wear, fingers feathering lightly across it as if it was the man it had belonged to.

"I belong to Kanda, just as surely as he belongs to me. Distance does not change that."

"Not even a friend?" Tyki asked. "Couldn't you use someone to talk to at the very least?"

"I have you."

"I'm not always here."

"Rhode too lives here," Allen said, gaze upturned to the sky. "Jasdero and Debitto also visit frequently. I have no need of anyone else to speak to."

"I thought you were less than pleased by Rhode fawning over you and the twins trying to prank you with their foolish games."

"It's not perfect, but it's enough," Allen said returning his gaze to Tyki. "And it's only temporary."

Tyki smiled. A mixture of pity and awe. To trust in someone so completely truly was befitting Allen's strength of will.

"Of course."

xXx

He wasn't strong. Far from it. Allen was completely and utterly terrified that Kanda would not return. Not by choice of course, Allen had every faith that so long as he were able – and perhaps to a degree even if he weren't – that Kanda would come for him. But he wasn't naïve enough to think that true love could conquer all or any of that bullshit that the romantic comic plays he'd seen would have you believe. No, he'd lost enough people to know that things didn't always work out and he'd honestly rather be more proactive and get out there looking for himself, but Kanda had asked him to wait for him, and Allen had promised forever. It would be both a betrayal of his own feelings and an affront to the proud man if Allen thought his words insincere.

Could he really trust Kanda? Would he really come back? What if he finds someone else? Questions he'd heard a million times from Rhode since Kanda had left never failed to linger in the back of his mind despite brushing them off indifferently. The unfortunate irony of life though was that the only way to find out if you can trust someone _is_ to trust that someone. He had decided to place his trust in Kanda and only time and the man in question could tell if his faith would be rewarded.

 _To be continued~_

* * *

A/N: Holy crap I hate myself so much right now. I was all excited about Yullentide and thought I'm going to write all these prompts! But I've been so busy and I'm honestly so frustrated and exhausted I need to go sleep for a couple hours ;w; So I'm doing the first two prompts as a two chaptered fic (or at least that's what I've grudgingly decided). It's late but this is for the Dec 18/19 prompt: trust.

I haven't even read or edited it so it's quite possible it makes no sense and is redundant and I really wanted to write that painful goodbye sex better than that scathingly simple paragraph ORZ There is a very high chance I'll rewrite this… preferably when I'm more coherent.

Ugh but I'm rambling so I'm going to just leave this here go get some sleep, try to survive the rest of the day with my relatives and then finish this up with the 20/21 prompt: liberate!

As always thanks for reading, all comments are welcomed and appreciated :)


	2. Chapter 2: Liberate

**Fortitude in this Liminal Space Between Me and You**

 **Chapter 2: Liberate**

Sparrows trill high notes in the pine trees overhanging the courtyard walls, and from farther off, towards the city square, the sound of firecrackers could be heard. A raucous celebration for something or other that Allen was sure Rhode had mentioned over breakfast at the house, but like many things lately had failed to register. She had urged him to go with her. Her and the twins too. For the self-important upper class they were, they enjoyed the festivities that frequently roused the city a lot more than the stuffy obligatory gatherings held by other prominent families. But as with most things lately, Allen had declined without giving it much thought.

He'd meant to stay in, but that giant house was a terrifyingly lonesome place to be when it was empty. While he hated the family name, Allen very much cared for the peculiar bunch of people bearing the weighty title of Noah. The others made grand shows of pride at the name, but Allen knew at least at one time or another they'd all wanted nothing more than to escape the name and the responsibilities that came with it. No matter what you did or where you went, however, a Noah was a Noah for life. Tyki had said it best once, _"Better to be clapped in shackles and chained in some dank cell somewhere, at least then there's the possibility of escape, but for us what can we do? How can we run from a name?"_ That had resonated deeply with Allen when he'd been younger.

For a time he thought Mana had figured it out, had been able to escape the cold world of the Noah, but Allen had seen firsthand how futile it was. His resistance had caused him nothing but agony, and returning to his duties as Earl had been ever more difficult because he'd tasted something sweeter and more serene. It had been probably just that change that broke him.

Mana had told him to keep walking, as if moving ever forward was an act of free will. How cruelly deceptive it was, those words meant to encourage. Ever moving when forced to- When there is no destination nor point of departure- Such a thing was the worst possible prison when all you wanted to do was settle down somewhere nice and quiet where you could watch the sun rise and set in the arms of your lover. The time he'd spent with Kanda was the closest Allen had ever gotten to that kind of dreamlike freedom. Ultimately though he'd still ended up back at the main estate.

More fireworks and laughter echoed through the night air as Allen found himself at the only place he'd ever been able to call his own. Hand settling upon the rough woodgrain of the back door, he idly noted the varnish had mostly worn away. Allen always entered through the back door. And though he'd never asked, Kanda had taken to doing the same. The front of the house was quaint, but the walk was all cobblestone and Allen much preferred the small courtyard garden that lead up to it from the back with the rich scent of grass and the crunch of shifting stones beneath his feet – even now with its impoverished shrubs, thirsty drooping flowers and weeping cherry trees. The stones too showed their neglect on the surface – no longer white.

Pushing the door open, Allen reveled in the brief moment of relief that washed over him as he was welcomed by the familiar scents of the house. The air was stale from the years of neglect – it was the first time he'd been back since Kanda left – yet everything was the same as that day. A glance towards the kitchen revealed the pocket mirror still lying atop the counter, albeit now covered in a thin layer of dust.

Leaning his forehead against the bedroom door briefly, Allen closed his eyes and he could swear he could hear the gasps and breathless calls from that night. Flopping face first on the bed he choked and coughed as a cloud of dust roused from atop the long still linens. Fanning it away with his hand, eyes squinted he wondered if it had really been so long since he'd come to this place that it already bore all the scars of abandonment. Shaking his head, Allen fluffed a pillow, hitting it again, and again, until at last it seemed the dust had cleared. Slender arms encircled it, hugging it against him and burying his nose in the fabric, Kanda's scent still lingering there. Allen felt increasingly parched, licking dry lips as he nuzzled the pillow, willing it to become the man it smelled like to quench his unrelenting thirst. For a moment he thought he heard Kanda's voice echoing through the house, then his own – bickering, laughing, living – more phantom sounds. Memories.

Eyes closed Allen could almost feel the ghostly caress of calloused fingers on his cheek, and neck, and- Eyes snapping open, Allen stood abruptly, tossing the pillow back atop the sheets and stalking to the door in hurried strides. It was too much. Far too much.

He left through the front – a stark return to reality. Looking back at the house his eyes traced the myriad scratches marring the door around the lock from repeatedly errant key, a wistful smile softening his gaze and turning his lips. Here he stood, alone. Once there had been Mana, then there had been Cross – his drunken nights surely the cause of the scratches around the lock. Then there had been Kanda. It felt like a lifetime ago when he'd found the man broken and battered in a dismal alley in town and had brought him back to the house. It had been so long since the times when they'd shared this place that was filled with so much pain and joy and passion.

He turned, boots echoing empty sounds down the road, the still partying city sounds becoming distant in his ears.

xXx

"I don't know much about you, but I should think that something like this would be rather oppressive."

Looking up from his tea, silver irises met the single uncovered emerald gaze of his guest.

"I suppose, at times."

It had been Rhode who'd come across Lavi in town the other day. She'd never been fond of Kanda, but like Tyki, she wanted very much for Allen to be happy. So having seen the redhead who she knew was acquainted with the absent man, she'd dragged him back to the estate. Unfortunately he was none the wiser of where Kanda had gone off too, but the few times Allen had been in Lavi's company had been nothing but a pleasure so it wasn't all a loss.

"And at other times?"

Lavi smiled easily, but his eye was dark with concern after hearing the details. He'd gone off on a journey with his mentor before Kanda had even left, and knew only that despite his brashness and don't give a fuck attitude, he did care that Allen's status meant there would always be a gulf between them – he didn't care about approval, whether Allen's family liked him or not had nothing to do with it. What had always bothered Kanda was the fact that there were things that Allen would have to bear that he would not be able to do anything about.

"At other times? At other times I suppose I don't feel anything at all."

It was a simple statement, not truly weighted with any intended connotation, but it still unsettled Lavi to hear. It was perhaps that calm delivery that was most concerning.

"I'm sure Yuu wouldn't be happy to hear that. Are you sure you're not repressing? It's not good for your health you know."

"I'm not repressed. I say I don't feel anything at all, but that is only because I feel so much that it isn't actually all that much. Anger, frustration, fear, longing, desire, desperation… I don't run from it, it just comes and because it always comes I'm used to it. If I had to use a word to describe this feeling, it might be jaded."

"I always pictured you as more of a dreamer than a philosopher," Lavi mused with a slight grin.

"I don't actually believe I have any philosophy left. I find that the years and this place have hardened me into the kind of overly pragmatic person I never wanted to be."

Lavi's eye widened at the statement, but Allen was preoccupied with staring out the window and did not notice the frown creasing his companion's face.

"You may feel you've lost it somewhere along the way, and the few years have definitely taken their toll… But your eyes are still hopeful. Still defiantly clinging to something. That's not jaded."

Allen was silent for a moment, thinking on Lavi's words and wondering if he truly still looked hopeful.

"Lavi… can I confide in you?"

"But of course," Lavi said, a kind brotherly softness in his tone.

"I grow tired of waiting. I- I want him back now."

Lavi's frown deepened, brows knitting together as he took in the tightening of Allen's hold on his teacup and the quiver of lips as he spoke.

"While we were together we traveled a lot – not far of course, and not in fancy fare such as this," Allen said tugging at the collar of the two piece vest suit he'd been dressed in that morning. "I've thought about it a lot lately, been losing myself for hours imagining those footprints we've left all over this small corner of the earth. I see them in my dreams: two sets of linked tracks that stretch for miles in all directions from our house. And then I see the tracks Kanda is making now. I don't know where he is or what he's doing, but I know that wherever he is, it's somewhere without me, and whatever he's doing, it's something that I am not. I see our modest tracks and I see his far reaching ones and I wish we could have gone farther… Much farther together."

Speechless. Lavi could find nothing to say to respond to such a confession. So he offered all he could. A somber smile, a heavy empathetic sigh and an unspoken apology.

xXx

It came upon the ninth year. Most days such as this found Allen by the window in his room overlooking the front yard, writing scores to pass the time. The piano keys sang out clear notes in batches, Allen stopping to commit them to paper every now and then, though he could remember every variation with ease.

A knock at the door drew his attention, fingers stalling on the keys as it creaked open two small heads of rumpled ink black hair peaking around its side, golden irises sparkling with hesitance.

"It's alright Marie you can come in," Allen said sitting back on the chair. "You too Collin."

The children's full faces came into view, grins stretched wide as they pranced in with the sort of burgeoning excitement only young children seemed capable of truly pulling off, Rhode following in at a more relaxed pace, a kind look in her eyes as she watched her children clamber up onto the piano bench on either side of Allen.

"What song is that?"

The girl, slightly taller the boy, hair long about her shoulders, face the spitting image of Rhode when she was younger.

"A new one?"

The boy, younger by a year, shared only the same golden irises as Rhode, all else resembled his father.

"Will you teach it to us?" Marie asked looking to the scores half penciled in atop the piano.

"No, not this one, but there is another," Allen chuckled at their eagerness, reaching over to the windowsill where a folder of handwritten scores were clustered. "This one is for you."

The children snatched away the score in a babble of excitement and began reading it as Allen stood to give them room. Silver eyes watched proudly as they seemed to come to an agreement on how it should be played, before setting it on the stand and beginning to tap the keys, tentatively testing out the melody.

"They're getting better every day," Allen said wandering over to stand beside Rhode.

"True, but it's only because they have a good teacher."

A smile softened his lips. Rhode cleared the distance with a step, arms wrapping around Allen's neck, a pained look creasing in the corners of her eyes and tightening in her pursed lips.

"You know, you could play at concert halls and travel the world with your skill. You could get far away from this place if you wanted."

"No, I don't think I could," Allen said returning the consoling embrace with one he hopped might be reassuring.

"No matter how good you are at it, you were never meant to be a teacher, Allen."

Rhode pulled away, hands still lingering loosely around Allen's neck.

"As I recall, you were never meant to have children," Allen said good naturedly. "Funny how these things work out."

"Indeed, I had always planned to marry you, to steal you away from that man," Rhode pouted lips curling up into that sultry grin she was so good at. "But as it turns out, you're more bull-headed than I am."

"You shouldn't talk about marrying other men in front of your children," Allen chided.

"They love you just as much as they love that elusive workaholic."

"I'm flattered."

Rhode pouted drawing a hand back to poke at the infernally sweet smile adorning his face – it was the kind that never quite reached his eyes despite how soft his expression was – the kind she hated.

"Uncle Allen," Collin called, hesitant to interrupt. "How do we play this part?"

Allen looked towards the children, Rhode relinquishing her hold on him and watching solemnly as the snowy haired male instructed her children on the pacing of the part of the score they were having difficulty with. She wanted more for him than this. She respected his devotion to Kanda, but that didn't mean she liked it. To her, he was wasting his life waiting for that man to come back. Sometimes, though, she wondered if she had ever loved someone so deeply. She had often professed her love for Allen when they were younger, but that had faded with time and she got married, had children and was happy as she was. She knew she loved her husband, but she doubted that the bond they had could last if they had to be apart for five years, and Allen would be going on ten come autumn.

"Momma did you hear that?" Marie asked spinning in her seat.

Rhode nodded, adoration in her glimmering golden gaze. She hated Kanda, she truly did, but more than anything she found herself wishing he would just turn up to turn that shallow smile on Allen's face into something earnest.

"Uncle Allen, you know Uncle Tyki is coming over for dinner later," Marie said as she followed his lead on the next part of the score. The melody dancing on the air.

"Really? What do you suppose he brought you this time?"

"Why guess when you can see for yourselves right now," Tyki said from the doorway, startling everyone inside, the two children jumping up and running to embrace the older man.

"You're early."

Rhode crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing Tyki suspiciously. If there was one thing about the man she was sure off after all these years, it was that he was never early for anything.

"Indeed I am," Tyki said, a broad self-satisfied smile lilting up the corners of his lips. "I had planned to be at least an hour late just to see that peeved look on your beautiful face, but you see I came upon the most peculiar thing in the city today. I just had to show it to you so I came right away."

"Oh? What is it?"

Irritation aside, Rhode was genuinely interested in what Tyki had brought.

"Well, its- Allen aren't you interested?"

"You know I'm not really interested in trinkets Tyki," Allen said disinterestedly, jotting some notes on the score the children had been playing to make the transitions easier.

"He's no trinket, Shounen."

"He?"

At this Allen perked up, turning from the piano, a confused but hopeful look lighting in silver irises.

"Yes," Tyki smirked as he stepped into the room and aside from the doorway as another presence made himself known. Navy hair. Cobalt irises. That sharp half smirk.

Allen's eyes widened as they filled with unbidden tears of joy, mouth slightly agape in disbelief, and breath caught in his throat.

"You just going to stare, Moyashi?"

"A-are you real?"

Lips quivering.

"Baka Moyashi, of course I'm real."

That was all it took. Allen launched himself at Kanda, burying him in feverish kisses, clinging to him as though he might slip away again if only he should let go.

"Baka! Bakanda!"

"I'm back. I'm sorry I took so lon- ungh!"

Kanda's head snapped back, releasing Allen, hands flying to his forehead. Everyone's eyes wide in shock.

"You- You just headbutted me?"

"Like you didn't deserve it! Sure I said I'd wait forever, but what the hell Kanda, you have some nerve actually staying away for so long!" Allen fumed, wiping at his tears still clinging to his lashes with his sleeve.

"Tch, I said I was sorry," Kanda huffed, cupping Allen's cheek with one hand, the other gently brushing the red bruise forming on his forehead. "Look what you've gone and done."

"You owe me more than a simple apology Kanda," Allen said, cheeks puffed out, brows furrowed and lips pursed unamused.

Cobalt eyes narrowed, jaw tense, unsure of what to expect. After all, he never did know what to expect with Allen. Silver clashed with cobalt for a tense minute before a sigh drained the fight out of Allen. Clearing the slight distance between them he leaned against Kanda, arms once again settling about his shoulders in a loose embrace.

"Welcome back."

Both Rhode and Tyki let out the breaths they hadn't known they'd been holding, the smile adorning Allen's tear streaked face a true sight to behold – uninhibited joy.

"Momma, who's that man?" Marie whispered, tugging at Rhode's hand.

"That is the insufferable man your Uncle Allen has been waiting here for."

"I've never seen him smile like that," Collin murmured in awe.

"Yeah, isn't that how you look at papa?" Marie pipped in.

"Oh ho, you look at that straight laced guy like _that_ do you?" Tyki teased before Rhode could say anything.

"No," Rhode whispered harshly swatting at Tyki with a tight-lipped frown before turning her attention to her children. "His feelings aren't comparable. Now come on, let's give your Uncle Allen some time to become reacquainted with that idiot of his."

Two pairs of slender brows arched in confusion, but the children didn't ask anything further, following after their mother. Whatever it was, there was a lightness to the air in the room that had never been there before, as though some great pressure that had been building towards its complete collapse had finally found the release it sought.

"Did you really have to headbutt me?" Kanda asked once they were alone.

"I had considered kicking you in the shin, but it seemed a bit too juvenile."

Shaking his head, Kanda ruffled Allen's hair fondly. Trusting someone is never easy. It hurts, it's scary, and it requires more patience than most people are capable of exhibiting. It doesn't always work out, but when it does – when the faith you've put in someone has been justified – there's nothing in the world more liberating.

 _End_

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A/N: Holy crap, you guys are so sweet! I managed to get some sleep, even with my niece thundering around the house like an elephant at all hours of the day. I honestly don't know how someone as light as she is can make such heavy sounds _ ;

Somehow despite all the distractions I was able to finish up the second prompt: Liberate! Again I haven't gotten a chance to edit it but I hope everyone likes it! Next prompt for Dec 22/23 is Absolution. Going to try and do something for it, but I'm prioritizing finishing the secret santa yullen fic I'm working on so I can post it first thing on the 25th! That's one thing I don't want to be late with. So we'll see what happens. I have volunteering in the morning and then I'm supposed to take my niece skating… RIP my soul I'm gonna be dead when I get home~

As always thanks for reading, all comments are very much welcomed and appreciated :)


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